Tottenham Hotspur's maiden year under Ange Postecoglou has suddenly seen a fresh layer of concern carpeted over the stadium in north London, with the squad defeated 4-0 against Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Spurs have ebbed back away from fourth place after Aston Villa secured a stunning win over title-chasing Arsenal on Sunday and now find their fears of missing out on Champions League football next season heightened.
Fifth place may yet open up qualification to Europe's elite club competition but such hopes linger on English rivals – such as the Gunners – succeeding in Europe and securing a co-efficient qualifying spot, and with a range of continental ties currently in the balance, it would be foolish to lean on such eventualities.
Postecoglou's side have made progress this season but top four would entice the biggest prospects with a move to the club, with one such player currently being lined up to improve the defence.
Spurs set sights on new defender
According to Italian publication Tuttosport – via Sport Witness – Tottenham are competing against Juventus to sign highly-rated Bologna star Riccardo Calafiori, setting their sights on the 21-year-old after his exemplary Serie A campaign.
Calafiori is also attracting interest from Juventus and while the allure of the Premier League plays in Tottenham's favour, Champions League football would be a sure-fire way of convincing him to move to London, having been touted at €30m (£26m) by his club.
Riccardo Calafiori's style of play
Signing for Bologna from FC Basel for around €4m (£3m) last summer and has been nothing short of exemplary on his return to his Italian homeland, having previously failed to cement his spot in Roma's senior squad after rising from the academy.
As per Sofascore, the 6 foot 2 star has racked up three assists from 26 Serie A appearances this season, keeping eight clean sheets, completing 90% of his passes, averaging 0.5 key passes, 1.6 interceptions, 1.5 tackles and 6.7 ball recoveries per game, also succeeding with 74% of his aerial duels.
Said to be a "brilliant little player" by journalist and scout Antonio Mango, Calafiori has the trappings of a first-class central defender down the line and it's no wonder that Spurs have a vested interest in bringing him to N17.
He would join the likes of Cristian Romero and Radu Dragusin in moving to the club from Italian teams in recent years and, left-footed, boasts a style of play that would provide some much-needed cover in Micky van de Ven's position in the rearguard.
The 22-year-old Van de Ven signed for Spurs from Wolfsburg for £43m last summer and has been largely brilliant but suffered a woeful game against Newcastle last time out and is not quite as indomitable as it sometimes seems – a foil would be a good idea heading into the new campaign, hopefully with European competition back on the cards.
Why Riccardo Calafiori could rival Van de Ven
There's certainly no guarantee that Calafiori would secure a starting spot in Tottenham's first team from the off – look at £27m January addition Dragusin, also from the Serie A, also young.
But, without question, Calafiori is a high-level talent with a burgeoning skill set that appears well-suited to Postecoglou's system, high-energy, hard-working, fast-moving.
As per FBref, the admired ace ranks among the top 2% of centre-backs across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 2% for shot-creating actions, the top 20% for pass completion, the top 15% for progressive carries, the top 12% for successful take-ons and the top 4% for interceptions per 90.
He might be competent at left-back and he might have played the role on five occasions in 2023/24 but each of his three assists has arrived from a central deployment, bespeaking his creativity and the lack of constraints when featuring at the heart of the backline.
The £12k-per-week talent has also been described as an "aerial monster" by analyst Ben Mattinson, and this is one of the main reasons why he could be the perfect rival for Van de Ven on the left side of the Tottenham central defence.
Endowed with all the tools to make him the perfect modern-day defender, equipped with passing prowess and defensive fortitude, Calafiori is dynamic and interchangeable in his performance, with his style not too dissimilar to that of Manchester City phenom John Stones in regard to his far-reaching functionality.
Matches played
29
21
Minutes played
2,268
1,799
Goals
0.00
0.10
Assists
0.12
0.00
Pass completion
89.4%
95.2%
Progressive passes
3.81
4.05
Progressive carries
1.08
0.65
Ball recoveries
7.80
6.00
Successful take-ons
0.45
0.55
Shot-creating actions
1.75
0.30
Tackles won
1.31
1.40
Interceptions
1.90
0.80
Clearances
2.74
3.15
Blocks
1.57
0.75
Aerial duels won
2.56
1.55
Pitted against each other, Calafiori and Van de Ven are clearly both very robust but find their greatest strengths in different areas, despite both being blessed with passing skills and physicality of elite standard.
Van de Ven is one of the most athletic and powerful defenders in the Premier League, ranking among the top 20% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 2% for pass completion and successful take-ons and the top 25% for tackles won per 90 (FBref), but his aerial command is one of his weak points.
Despite standing at 6 foot 4, the rangy Dutchman is coming out on top in only 52% of his aerial battles in the Premier League this season, as opposed to a 66% success rate in ground duels, as per Sofascore.
Losing out in almost half of such challenges is not the best illustration of a rounded skill set, even if he excels in many other areas, but Calafiori suffers no such issue.
Harking back to the observations of Calafiori's style of play, he is coming out on top in a whopping 74% of his aerial duels in the Italian top flight this season, which surpasses even Romero's 68% average in the Premier League.
Front-footed defending is Van de Ven's forte and while he is in a fine position for a lasting place of prominence in Tottenham's team, bolstering with Calafiori might just be the defence-completing acquisition to ensure that the Lilywhites take the seeds of promise in Postecoglou's early phase and nurture a talented crop to the highest level.
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